Mind you, I’m no shopping expert. As a matter of fact I loathe shopping even if it’s to get something for myself. But if what I saw last night is any indication of how “off” the Christmas (yes I used the word) shopping season will be, hang on.
I’m not a big spender either – never have been and never will be. I pay as I go and if I don’t have the money I don’t get it. Last night in a rare occurrence, I took my wife out to dinner. After that we headed up the street to the Barnes and Nobles Bookstore. I had finished reading the book I’d been working on and needed another.
I hesitated to go because I knew it was Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year in America. When I arrived I was surprised to find very few people in the bookstore. I looked around, found the book I wanted (Joel Rosenburg’s Epicenter 2.0) and headed next door to CompUSA to look for some computer software.
I had been in this same CompUSA in the past and when I walked in it looked to me like they must be going out of business. With perhaps no more than 20 people in the store, stocked merchandise was scarce, to say the least.
On my way out I stopped a clerk and asked him if they were going out of business and he smiled and asked why I asked. I explained and he said that business was slow and they opted not to “stock up” for the Christmas rush.
Right beside CompUSA is Staples, so I went in. In all honesty I think there was one other customer in the store and it appeared the store employees had little to do as they huddled up behind the counter seemingly involved in some humorous conversation of their own.
I met back up with my wife a few minutes later and we compared notes, both agreeing that what we say wasn’t a good thing for the stores.
Now if I had to give any advice for what people should do for the Christmas holiday, I would say the opposite of what the “experts” say. I’d tell you to save your money and pay off your debt.
Tom Remington
